Class Notes

Showing class notes submitted in the last year by graduates in the 2000s

2000

GRD Engineering '00

Warner, Amy

Amy Warner '99, M.S. '00 was recently elected as vice president of Precision Analog. As such, Warner is responsible for setting and driving strategy for the Precision Analog team with the goal of sustainable growth and profitability with differentiated analog signal chain products designed for the industrial, energy and communications markets.

In previous roles at TI, Warner managed Precision Digital-to-Analog Converter products and served as an analog field applications engineer. Prior to joining TI in 2004, she spent four years as a hardware engineer at Agilent Technologies.

submitted Mar. 12, 2014 8:39P

'00

Thorsett, Brian

Brian Thorsett ’00 is now an assistant professor at Virginia Tech University in the School for Performing Arts. Thorsett also recently performed at the prestigious Festival del Sole in Napa, Calif., in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti.

submitted Aug. 5, 2014 5:31P

'00

Rocha, Stephanie

Stephanie Rocha '00, J.D. '09 appeared in the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 2014 40 Under 40 list. She is an associate attorney at Miller Morton Cailat & Nevis LLP, where Rocha represents developers, builders and prime contractors in construction litigation, including defect and payment disputes. She also represents real estate agents and brokers, homeowners, landlords, tenants and other individuals and entities in a variety of real estate- and business-related matters.

A Santa Clara native, Rocha started her career at a semiconductor company in Santa Clara County. She quickly moved up the ranks in the human resources department and — unfortunately, as the recession began to hit — was involved in handling company layoffs, exposing her to legal employment claims and piquing her interest in law.

Her experience at this time also included working as employee relations manager for a biotech company, where she was able to cultivate her newfound interest by working closely with the company's outside labor and employment counsel.

Indulging her varied outside curiosities, Rocha earned her real estate license and began selling real estate at nights and on the weekends, while still maintaining her full-time job. Exposure to real estate law was the final push she needed to pursue law school.

submitted Jan. 9, 2015 8:53A

GRD Leavey/MBA '00

Nishita, Jeff

Jeff Nishita MBA ’00 has joined Novogradac & Company LLP, a San Francisco-based accounting and consulting firm that specializes in affordable housing, community development, historic preservation and renewable energy tax credits. Nishita performs numerous services in the real estate industry, including audit and tax services, consulting, forecasting and training. He works with for-profit and nonprofit developers, syndicators and direct investors.

Mr. Nishita speaks at various affordable housing conferences throughout the year and is in charge of maintaining the firm’s Financial Forecast Model. He is also the founder of the firm’s community service program and one of the founders of the firm’s LIHTC Working Group, a membership organization that addresses technical issues in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.

Before joining Novogradac & Company LLP, Mr. Nishita worked with several start-up companies and small businesses in executive positions.

submitted Jan. 9, 2015 2:48P

GRD Leavey/MBA '00

Merchant, Nilofer

Nilofer Merchant MBA '00 has been appointed to the Martin Prosperit Institute (MPI), which is a research center at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. A leading thinker in innovation, business ethics, management, and public policy, Merchant will look at society's emerging power infrastructure for the Infrastructure for Democratic Capitalism project. She teaches innovation at Stanford and Santa Clara Universities. During a 20-year career, she has personally launched 100 products amounting to $18B in revenue. Her career includes stints at Apple, Autodesk, GoLive/Adobe as well as service on both public and private boards. She is the author two best-selling books: The New How (2010); and 11 Rules for Creating Value in the #SocialEra (2012). She won the 2013 Thinkers 50 Future Thinker Award. She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, written innovation columns for Businessweek and Forbes and is a contributor to Harvard Business Review, Wired, and Oprah.

submitted Nov. 15, 2014 8:49A

GRD Law '00

Edwards, Erik

Erik Edwards J.D. '00 has re-joined Cooley as a partner in its business department. Edwards, who first joined Cooley as a summer associate in 1999, and became a partner in 2009, will reside in the firm's Palo Alto office where he will re-establish a practice focused on the representation of emerging growth companies, investors and public companies on a wide range of matters including financings, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance matters. From 2011 to 2014 he served as general counsel and later as the managing director of the family office of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

At Santa Clara University School of Law, Edwards served as the business editor of the Santa Clara Law Review. He was the recipient of the Witkin Award for Academic Excellence in Securities Regulation and the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in the Legal Profession. He also served as an extern for Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California.

submitted Nov. 21, 2014 6:07P

UGRD Leavey Business '00

Davaransky, Jane (Duong)

Jane Duong Davaransky ’00 created a petition on www.change.org to ask Medela, a leading manufacturer of breast pumps, to create a program to recycle old breast pumps. After 2,002 signatures, Medela responded by creating a recycling program called Medela Recycles. Each pump received through Medela Recycles supports the donation of new hospital-grade, multiuse breastpumps and supplies to Ronald McDonald House Charities to support parents who have babies in the NICU. Medela expects to recycle 12,000 pumps with this program. As of mid-January 2015, the company has recycled 171 pumps.

submitted Jan. 21, 2015 12:27P

GRD Leavey/MBA '00

Clapperton, Michael

Michael Clapperton MBA ’00 has been named to the board of Etairos Consulting in San Jose, Calif. He currently is the Chief Technology Officer of IT Sigma in New York City, a SaaS Workflow Management tool.

Contact Michael212-390-0696

submitted May. 29, 2014 10:11A

UGRD Arts & Sciences '00

Busch, Katie (Pursley)

Katie (Pursley) Busch '00 and Dave Busch welcomed their second child, Anna Kathryn, on July 10, 2014. The family lives in Colorado.

submitted Nov. 13, 2014 11:01A

UGRD Leavey Business '00

Davaransky, Jane (Duong)

Jane Duong Davaransky ’00 and husband Anthony announce the birth of Carson Thai Davaransky, born on April 27, 2014. Carson spent 5 weeks at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford for apnea, aspiration, and reflux. He is now home with mom, dad, and big sister Emerson. He is growing and improving every day.

submitted Sep. 1, 2014 1:57A

2001

GRD Leavey/MBA '01

Terrazas, David

David Terrazas MBA '01, J.D. ’06, has been re-elected to the Santa Cruz City Council. He is a manager with Valley Transit Authority.

Terrazas, 45, wants to strengthen connections with UC Santa Cruz and Silicon Valley, saying the city's proximity to both communities provides ample opportunities for Santa Cruz to grow its reputation as a tech incubator. Terrazas wants to help create additional jobs so fewer people have to commute over the hill for higher-paying employment in the tech sector. He also plans to continue to work to make parks and beaches safer and cleaner, while replacing aging infrastructure.

As chair of the council's public safety committee, Terrazas was instrumental in garnering support for a pilot program with county law enforcement and social services to identify repeat low-level offenders downtown and funnel them into treatment and supportive housing. The data from the Downtown Accountability Program's first four months has showed promise in reducing recidivism on Pacific Avenue and nearby streets, and the council has extended the pilot to gather more data.

Terrazas also is chair of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries governing board, which has managed planning for a 2015 vote on a special tax to tackle $63 million in facilities improvements.

Terrazas has lived in Santa Cruz for 25 years after growing up in the San Lorenzo Valley and San Jose, where he earned his bachelor's degree from San Jose State University in political science. He also earned law and business degrees from Santa Clara University.

Terrazas' wife, Monica, works at the Santa Cruz County Office of Education. They have three children.

submitted Oct. 22, 2014 1:11P

'01

Johnson, Mark

Mark "Rusty" Johnson '01 is in his first year as head coach of De Anza College’s men’s soccer team and was named the Coast Conference Coach of the Year. Prior, he was an assistant coach at Santa Clara University for 10 years. Johnson decided he wanted to coach a team of his own. During his years playing at Santa Clara University, Johnson played in two College Cups and one National Championship game. His expertise has been recognized throughout the game, giving him a respectful reputation.

submitted Dec. 8, 2014 5:30P

UGRD Leavey Business '01

Hicks, Sarah (Petersen)

Sarah (Petersen) Hicks ’01 and husband Dave welcomed their second daughter, Cora Elouise Hicks, on Feb. 17, 2014. She joins 2-year-old sister Carsen Rose at the family's home in San Jose, Calif.

submitted Oct. 27, 2014 10:10A

'01

Doré, David

David Doré MTS '01 is the new president of Pima Community College's Northwest Campus. He comes from Mesa Community College, where he was the dean of instruction for career and technical education. Before working at Mesa, Doré served in a variety of positions at San Francisco Community College District from 1996 to 2013.

Doré has a doctorate of education from Pepperdine University, a master’s of business administration from Georgetown University, a master’s of education from Boston College, a master’s of theological studies from Santa Clara University and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania.

submitted May. 16, 2014 11:54A

UGRD Leavey Business '01

Diaz, Alma (Parra)

Angel Diaz ’99 and Alma Diaz Parra ’01 welcomed their second child, Antonio Ernesto, on Oct. 27, 2014. He joins big brother Eduardo Angel who is three years old and the family resides in Los Angeles.

submitted Jan. 9, 2015 1:05P

'01

Blaylock, Adam

Adam Blaylock ’01 was promoted to partner from senior manager. Blaylock is a member of Ernst & Young LLP?s Assurance practice in San Jose, where he serves technology clients, including large multinationals, as well as clients in the solar industry. He previously served as a Professional Practice Group resident in the West Region, where he assisted client service teams with complex technical accounting matters and facilitated executive training sessions. Blaylock graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor?s degree in Accounting and a minor in Mathematics from Santa Clara University. He is a Certified Public Accountant licensed to practice in California and a member of the American Institute of CPAs.

submitted Jul. 30, 2014 11:12A

2002

UGRD Leavey Business '02

Smallwood, Blaze

Blaze Smallwood ’02 and wife Annie welcomed their second child, Brady Drue, on May 17, 2014. Big sister Avery Mae (4 years old in Oct 2014) loves giving her new brother smooches any chance she gets.

submitted Jul. 23, 2014 12:27P

UGRD Leavey Business '02

Silverberg-Rajna, Hugo

Hugo Silverberg-Rajna MBA ’02 writes, "After 21 years at Cisco, I'm moving on to a new adventure!"

Contact Hugo510-354-2492, hrajna@gmail.com

submitted Oct. 2, 2014 2:09P

UGRD Engineering '02

Alvarez, Jose

Jose Alvarez ’02 has been promoted to clinical engineer for Sutter Health Medical Center Sacramento, and he is currently working on another master's degree in health care administration.

submitted Oct. 28, 2014 10:15P

UGRD Engineering '02

Alderete, Jennifer (Magpayo)

Jennifer Magpayo Alderete '02, husband - Chris, big brother CJ, and big sister Kaya, are proud to announce the birth of Liana "Lia", on August 29, 2014. New baby sister was 7lb 11oz and a week early. The family recently moved to Castro Valley as well.

submitted Oct. 9, 2014 10:21A

UGRD Arts & Sciences '02

Albers, Joe

Karen Dazols Albers ’04 and Joe Albers ’02 welcomed their son Lucas into the world this past April. Karen is a kindergarten teacher in Sunnyvale. Joe serves as founding Principal of Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School, which opened this fall. Cristo Rey prepares low income students for college through a unique model of education where students work one day a week for companies and non-profits. They live in San Jose.